DVR inventor Anthony Wood’s Roku launched a line of 3 new Roku 2 streaming entertainment players, looking to offer online gamers and OTT film, video and TV fans a simple, intuitive way to access the Roku platforms growing library of online content. The new consoles are more energy efficient, using only 2 watts of power.
Highlighting online gaming, Roku 2 “brings popular casual games, including Angry Birds to the TV,” according to the press release.
“Roku is the best-selling streaming player on the market because of its simplicity, breadth of content and value. Now we’re setting the bar even higher with Roku 2 – a more powerful platform with new features including casual gaming,” Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood commented. “We’ve worked closely with Rovio to bring the first full version of Angry Birds to the TV – and best of all, we’re including it for free with the top-of-the-line XS model.”
The Roku 2 HD, Roku 2 XD and Roku 2 XS are expected to be available by the end of this month at suggested retail prices of $59.99, $79.99 and $99.99, respectively. A Roku Game Remote that adds motion control to the HD and XD models will be available in coming weeks as part of a bundle that that includes a 2GB microSD card for a suggested retail price of $29.99.
All three Roku 2 models come with built in wireless network access, and Bluetooth for wireless connection of game remotes and a microSD slot for additional game storage. The HD player supports up to 720P HD video and the Roku 2 XD up to 1080p HD video. The new models add other new features, including support for English subtitles, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 pass-through, and up to 1080p HD video quality on the XD and XS models for Netflix streams.
The consoles are the key to accessing the Roku platform’s growing line-up of content, which includes nearly 300 channels of streaming entertainment. Movies and TV shows from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and Crackle; live and on-demand sports from NBA Game Time, NHL GameCenter Live and Ultimate Fighting Championship are on tap, as is music from Pandora, MOG, Rdio and TuneIn Radio; photos and video from Flickr and Vimeo, and additional news and entertainment.
Other new channel additions include Facebook, AOL HD and FOXNews.com. More games will be available after the launch, including Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Seasons.
The Roku xds streaming player 1080p is fine for now. Angry Birds is interesting but I think of that as something for the iPhone not my TV. I salute Roku however for making continuous improvements. Switching to Roku + Netflix + Antenna saves about $80/month.
The Roku xds streaming player 1080p is fine for now. Angry Birds is interesting but I think of that as something for the iPhone not my TV. I salute Roku however for making continuous improvements. Switching to Roku + Netflix + Antenna saves about $80/month.